Philip Johnson's Glass House (click for another photospread):

Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth House (click the pic for a very nice photospread):

Yes, there do seem to be more than a few similarities, don't there? It's because there are. As one commenter here
notes:

According to the tour guide for the Farnsworth house, van de Rohe gave the plans to Johnson prior to building his own house, and Johnson used the plans to build his version.

Wikipedia offers a quite complete entry about the Farnsworth House, as does Columbia Universty. Columbia's entry even includes architectural drawings and construction pictures.

I think in the end that you have to give pride of place to Mies van der Rohe. As Johnson himself said:

“I pointed out to him (Mies) that it (a glass house) was impossible because you had to have rooms, and that meant solid walls up against the glass, which ruined the whole point. Mies said, ‘I think it can be done.’”

Still, just as a personal preference, I like Johnson's expression of Mies' idea just a little bit better.

Posted by Bill Quick at 01:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

If you've never seen Philp Johnson's iconic Glass House, one of the greatest triumphs of modern residential architecture, check out Michael Moran's Photo Spread of the house, interior and exterior, in all seasons.

Truly an amazing place - and Johnson lived in it until his death.

UPDATE: via Ed Driscoll, a fascinating video look at Johnson and his famous house. By the way, Ed makes the excellent point that the Glass House owes a hell of a lot to Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth House. He's right, and I'll be taking a look at that groundbreaker later on, as well.

Posted by Bill Quick at 07:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (1)